ETIDIoHSource: World Health Organization (WHO), Disease Outbreak News, https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2024-DON536
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Description of the situation
On 5 September 2024, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of one case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
The case, a man aged between 50-55 years residing in the Eastern Region of KSA, developed a fever, cough, shortness of breath, and palpitations on 28 August 2024. He was admitted as a cardiac case to a local hospital on 31 August and transferred to a medical complex on 1 September. From there he was discharged at his request the same day, against medical advice.
A nasopharyngeal swab taken on 1 September and tested at the National Public Health Laboratory as part of severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) sentinel surveillance, returned a positive result for MERS-CoV on 4 September through Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
After the patient was discharged from the hospital and prior to receiving the laboratory results confirming MERS-CoV, he traveled to Pakistan on 2 September.
The patient is a non-healthcare worker with several co-morbidities. Following field investigation, there was no evidence of interaction with camels. In KSA, follow-up has been completed for one household member, 23 healthcare professionals, and two patients who had contact with the case, with no secondary cases reported. Among close contacts listed in KSA, one travelled from Saudi Arabia to South Asia on 4 September. Flight details and personal information were retrieved to initiate contact tracing and follow-up, and no secondary cases have been identified in connection with this high-risk contact.
Following the notification on 5 September 2024 from the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) of KSA to the Pakistan IHR NFP regarding the patient’s travel and positive MERS-CoV results, the patient was located in Pakistan, and the health authorities proceeded to transfer the patient to a public hospital for strict isolation and management of existing comorbidities.
A total of 41 nasopharyngeal samples, including repeat samples of the case and close contacts were collected and tested at the Pakistan National Institute for Health/National Reference Laboratory. The patient tested positive, albeit with a low viral load, while all contacts tested negative. Close contacts, including family members and healthcare workers were closely monitored for 14 days, and no secondary cases have been identified.
The patient was discharged on 13 September after receiving a negative test result for MERS-CoV, along with instructions to continue oral medication and to return for a follow-up appointment in five days. This follow-up was successfully completed on 19 September, confirming the patient’s full recovery.
Since the beginning of the year, a total of five cases including four deaths have been reported from KSA, and this is the first case reported since the last Disease Outbreak News was published on 8 May 2024.
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